Judith Schlehe

Prof. Dr. Judith Schlehe is a Professor at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Freiburg, Germany. She previously served as Director of the Institute and held roles such as Internal Senior Fellow (2014-2015). Her work focuses on Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, with expertise in religious dynamics, cultural globalization, gender studies, disaster anthropology, and transnational collaboration.

Education: Studied ethnology, sociology, and psychology at the Universities of Freiburg and Zurich. Her academic career includes acting professorships at Universities of Mainz, Bremen, and others. She completed her Habilitation on Javanese spiritual practices and has extensive fieldwork in Indonesia and Mongolia.

Research priorities include ethnological theory, cultural representation, gender concepts, and environmental anthropology. Her recent work explores cosmopolitanism in Javanese mysticism, waste practices, and pandemic-era ecological ethics. Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams and leads research groups like the Southeast Asian Studies Program.

Teaching includes courses on cultural anthropology, disaster studies, and transcultural methodologies. Active in international academic networks, including editorial roles for journals and book series on Southeast Asian studies.